Richard Edwards
Richard Edwards or Edwardes (October 1525 - 1 October 1566) was an English poet and playwright. Life Overview Edwards was at Oxford, and then went to court, where he was made a gentleman of the Chapel Royal, and master of the singing boys. He had a high reputation for his comedies and interludes. His Palaman and Arcite was acted before Elizabeth at Oxford in 1566, when the stage fell and 3 persons were killed and 5 hurt, the play nevertheless proceeding.Damon and Pythias (1577), a comedy, is his only extant play.John William Cousin, "Edwards, Richard," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, 1910, 128. Web, Jan. 10, 2018. Youth and education Edwardes was born in North Petherton, Somerset, England, to Agnes (Blewitt) and William Edwardes.Richard Edwardes, Geni. Web, Jan. 21, 2015. He was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1544, and in the same year was elected to a fellowship at Corpus. In 1547 he was nominated a student of Christ Church and earned an M.A. At Oxford he studied music under George Etherege.Bullen, 125. On leaving the university he entered himself at Lincoln's Inn, but does not appear to have followed the profession of the law. Career He became a gentleman of the Chapel Royal, and in 1561 was appointed master of the children of the chapel. In January 1564-5 a tragedy by Edwards was performed by the children of the chapel before the queen at Richmond (Collier, History of English Dramatic Poetry, 1879, i. 183). He attended the queen on her visit to Oxford in 1566, and composed for her entertainment the play of Palamon and Arcite, which was acted in Christ Church Hall. The play (which has not survived) gave great satisfaction; the queen "laughed heartily thereat, and gave the author... great thanks for his pains." (Wood). Edwards died 31 October 1566 (Hawkins, Hist. of Music, 1853, p. 521). Writing Only 1 play by Edwards is extant, The excellent Comedie of two the moste faithfullest Freendes, Damon and Pithias, &c., 1571, 4to; 2nd edition, 1582. This play, which has merely an antiquarian interest, is reprinted in the various editions of Dodsley's Old Plays. Many of Edwards's poems were published in The Paradyse of Daynty Devises, which 1st appeared in 1576 and passed through 8 editions in 24 years. It is stated on the title-page of the anthology that the "sundry pithie and learned inventions" were "devised and written for the most part by M. Edwards, sometime of her majesties chapel." 4 of his poems are preserved in Cotton MS. Tit. A. xxiv. Some of Edwards's poems are not without grace and tenderness. By his contemporaries he was greatly admired, and Thomas Twine proclaimed him to be :The flower of our realm :And Phœnix of our age. Barnabe Googe eulogises him in Eglogs, Epitaphes, and Sonettes, 1563. George Turberville has an "epitaph" on him in Epitaphs, Epigrams. Songs, and Sonnets, 1567 (where the "epitaph" by Twine also occurs). William Webbe, in his Discourse of English Poetry, 1586, George Puttenham in his Art of English Poesie, 1589, and Francis Meres in Palladis Tamia, 1598, have commendatory notices of him. The "Mr. Edwardes" who wrote An Epytaphe of the Lord of Pembroke (licensed in 1569) is not to be identified with the author of Damon and Pithias. Warton mentions that a collection of short comic stories, printed in 1570, b.l., "Sett forth by Maister Richard Edwardes, mayster of her maiesties revels" (Edwards was not master of the revels), was among the books of "the late Mr. William Collins of Chichester, now dispersed." Recognition A part of his song "In Commendation of Musick" ("Where gripyng grief the hart would wound,") was used by William Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet, act iv. sc. 5. His poem "Amantium Irae" was included in the Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900."Amantium Irae", Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900 (edited by Arthur Quiller-Couch). Oxford, UK: Clarendon, 1919. Bartleby.com, Web, May 4, 2012. Publications Poetry *10 poems in The Paradyse of Daynty Devices. London: R. Jones for Henry Diste, 1576. Plays *''Dramatic Writings of Richard Edwards, Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville'' (edited by John Stephen Farmer). London: Early English Drama Society, 1906; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1966. *''Damon and Pythias. Oxford, UK: Malone Society / Oxford University Press, 1957. *''Richard Edwards' Damon and Pithias: A critical old-spelling edition (edited by D. Jerry White). New York: Garland, 1980. Collected editions *''Works of Richard Edwards: Politics, poetry, and performances in sixteenth-century England'' (edited by Ros King). Manchester, UK, & New York: Manchester University Press, 2001. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Richard Edwards 1566, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Jan. 10, 2018. See also * List of British poets References * . Wikisource, Web, Jan. 10, 2017. Notes External links ;Poems * "Amantium Irae". * Richard Edwardes at PoemHunter (4 poems) ;Plays *[http://www.elizabethanauthors.com/damon101.htm Damon and Pythias] online. ;Books *[http://www.sourcetext.com/sourcebook/etexts/paradise/title.htm Paradise of Dainty Devices] online. ;About *[http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=9014 Literary Encyclopedia - Damon and Pythias.] * Edwards, Richard Category:1520s births Category:1566 deaths Category:English dramatists and playwrights Category:People of the Tudor period Category:Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal Category:16th-century English people Category:16th-century writers Category:16th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:English poets Category:Poets